Murder Suspect Infected With Tb

Officers Must Undergo Testing

A Margate man accused of killing his niece with a crowbar may have exposed several law enforcement officers and bailiffs to tuberculosis, an infectious disease characterized by coughing.

The Broward Sheriff's Office and Margate police confirmed on Tuesday that Myong Sun Ji, 33, is infected with TB and that several officers and deputies who came in contact with him have been advised to be tested.

Several bailiffs have been exposed, said Warner Olds, Ji's public defender, who also has to be tested.

Ji, who is charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 10 slaying of his niece, has been held in an isolation cell on suicide watch at the North Broward detention complex since his arrest.

``The fortunate thing is there are not many who have been exposed because he was immediately placed in isolation,'' Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Leljedal said.

He was unable to confirm how many deputies had been in contact with Ji.

Leljedal said Ji apparently had the disease before he was arrested.

``There is a screening process where they are generally given a once-over to see if they appear to be healthy,'' Leljedal said. ``They are asked some questions about their general health, then are placed in the population. It's obviously something he contracted before he got into jail.''

Margate detective Bob Lillie, who interviewed Ji for hours after the suspect's arrest on Aug. 11, said jail officials called him on Friday and told him to get tested immediately.

``They told me that a person I arrested who's in the county jail on a murder charge named Myong Sun Ji had tested positive for TB,'' said Lillie, who was tested on Tuesday. ``They said, `You need to be tested right away.' It scared . . . me.''

Ji is accused of striking Eunice Brown, 13, during an argument with his older sister, Myong Il Brown. Ji was living with the Browns at the time of the attack despite a restraining order barring Ji from contact with the Brown's two children.

Eunice's father, Allan Brown, on Tuesday said he did not know anything about Ji suffering from TB.

``If they're sure he has TB, then all three of them, the immediate family, should be tested,'' said Yang Ja Paik, a former nurse who has spoken with Ji.

She and her husband, the Rev. Dohyun Paik, visited Ji at the North Broward Detention Center on Sept. 6.

As in the United States, TB used to be more common in Korea, especially in poor neighborhoods where children suffer from poor nutrition, she said.

The disease generally is spread by an infected person who is exhibiting symptoms such as a productive cough, sometimes tinged with blood, said Marie McMillan, tuberculosis coordinator for Broward County.